Protests over Nepal's new constitution have led to violent clashes in the country; CNN says that at least 7 police officers and one child were killed in the Kailali District after they were set upon by a mob on Monday.

The chief administrative officer in the Kailali District told The New York Times that one police officer was doused with kerosene and set on fire.

Ethnic minorities fear they will be marginalised by Nepal's new constitution, which proposes to split the country into seven federal states.

The United Nations says that the helicopter flights 'vital to humanitarian relief efforts in quake-struck Nepal' may be halted earlier than planned because of a $9.2 million funding shortfall.

Without the helicopters, the UN says that isolated communities devastated by two earthquakes in April and May and cut off by landslides caused during the Monsoon season may be left without emergency shelter and food.

With the UN's flash appeal still only 46 per cent covered, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Tuesday that 2.8 million people affected by the earthquake that claimed almost 9,000 lives still require 'vital' humanitarian assistance.